Biomass with CO2 Capture and Storage (Bio-CCS) – The way forward for Europe

This report was produced by the Zero Emissions Platform with input from the European Biofuels Technology Platform.

Bio-CCS combines sustainable biomass conversion with CO₂ Capture and Storage (CCS) – e.g. in biofuels and bioenergy production – and is already being deployed at industrial scale in the U.S.*. Use of biofuels and bioenergy is steadily increasing in the European Union (EU) due to targets for renewable energy sources and certain biofuels production routes could provide “low-hanging fruits” for early, low-cost CCS deployment. A recent study indicated that, globally, Bio-CCS could remove 10 billion tonnes of CO₂ from the atmosphere every year by 2050 using available sustainable biomass – equivalent to a third of all current global energy-related emissions. In Europe, Bio-CCS could remove 800 million tonnes of CO₂ from the atmosphere every year by 2050* using available sustainable biomass – equivalent to over 50% of current emissions from the EU power sector. This is in addition to any emissions reductions achieved by replacing fossil fuels with that biomass. Bio-CCS could ultimately result in industry sectors whose overall emissions are below zero, which could then offset emissions in other sectors where reductions are more difficult to attain (*please refer to report for detailed references).